For the sixth week in a row, JOC.com’s top stories center around continuing congestion at U.S. West Coast ports. But while eight of the top 10 stories centered on labor strife and delays, two other stories garnered attention: the massive, $1.1 trillion cromnibus spending bill in the U.S., and the factory shift from China to Vietnam.

Almost half the container vessels arriving at the Asian ports of Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Nhava Sheva between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15 were delayed more than 12 hours, and one third of the arriving ships faced delays of more than 24 hours, CargoSmart has found.

Manufacturing of labor intensive products has been migrating away from China in the past few years, much of it to neighbouring Vietnam, but that process appears to be speeding up, according to the latest reading of the HSBC purchasing manager’s index.

DHL has launched a new intra-Asia freighter flight connecting the economies of Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong as the global express services provider responds to increasing business within Southeast Asia.

Chinese package delivery company S.F. Express was the fastest-growing global transportation company in 2013, increasing revenue 40.6 percent in a year when the 50 largest transport operators saw revenue go flat.

Footwear importers last year paid $2.5 billion in duties, which are meant at least in part to protect domestic producers from low-cost imports, but in reality footwear accounts for a tiny percentage of U.S. jobs.

The nature of footwear sourcing is such that it raises red flags at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so importers should make commercial compliance an integral part of their business plan, an industry consultant said Monday.